A woman has revealed that she was the victim of a “virtual gang rape” by four male avatars in Metas Horizon Worlds, an online virtual reality (VR) video game, and she said the trauma was similar to aggression in the real world .
Psychotherapist Nina Patel told the Chron that her attackers may have felt “disinhibited” because they were in a virtual world.
Although she didn't know the true identities of her attackers, all four had male voices, and one even told her after the attack, “Don't act like you didn't like it.”
Ms. Patel explained that this “terrifying experience” happened just 60 seconds after she entered Meta’s virtual world.
The psychotherapist believes she was only targeted because her avatar was a woman, an experience she described as “surreal” and “horrifying.”
“They harassed me relentlessly and then sexually assaulted my avatar,” she explained.
Real feelings
Horizon Worlds is owned by Meta, Mark Zuckerberg's company. It's a free 3D world where avatars can explore the world and communicate with each other.
“The attack in this case likely occurred because of the anonymity and perceived lack of consequence in the virtual reality space,” Ms. Patel analyzed.
However, in her opinion, the feelings that such attacks can evoke are very real.
Precedents
In the UK, a 16-year-old girl's avatar was also recently gang-raped in a virtual reality game. The player contacted the police after the attack. She was reportedly completely disturbed by the incident.
“The emotional and psychological impact of VR can be very authentic,” emphasized Ms. Patel.
Officials said she suffered the same psychological and emotional trauma as a person raped in the real world. The virtual reality experience is actually designed to be completely immersive.
“The girl [qui a signalé son agression à la police] is very brave and has crossed a new frontier,” said Ms. Patel.
A worrying report
SumOfUs, a nonprofit organization, published a report on issues related to hate speech and sexual assault in Horizons in May 2022.
The organization's researcher was attacked less than an hour after using the platform.
“It happened so quickly that I dissociated. One part of my brain wondered what was going on, the other part said it wasn't a real body, and another part said it was important research. The anonymous researcher.
A Meta spokesperson pointed out that the researcher did not enable the Personal Boundary feature, a security tool that is enabled by default and prevents strangers from getting within 3 feet of your avatar.
The SumOfUs study revealed virtual touching and gang rape on the platform, as well as sexist, homophobic and racist comments, the Chron reports.